Pet insurers accused of burying key limits in policy fine print

Consumer group Fairer Finance has accused pet insurers of misleading customers with “deceptive” inner limits on common conditions, despite advertising high levels of annual or lifetime cover.

In its latest analysis, published on 6 October 2025, Fairer Finance found that a growing number of insurers are offering products with headline coverage of up to £20,000, but are capping payouts for key treatments, such as cruciate ligament damage or diagnostic scans, at a fraction of the real-world veterinary costs.

For example, some policies advertising £10,000 of annual cover restrict cruciate ligament treatment to £1,500, despite the average operation costing between £4,000 and £5,000.

Similarly, limits for diagnostic scans were found to be as low as £1,500, while the average cost of an MRI scan for a dog has risen to £3,789 in 2025.

James Daley, managing director at Fairer Finance, said: “This is a new and particularly deceptive form of hollowing out in the pet insurance market. Insurers are using headline coverage figures to attract customers while restricting the amounts they will pay out for the treatments pet owners are most likely to need.

“Comparison sites exacerbate the issue by focusing customers’ attention on the total medical coverage, without explaining the limitations of these products. Complaints are already rising, and we’d like to see the FCA take a look at this market alongside the home and travel insurance sectors.”

Watch list 

Fairer Finance identified 12 pet insurance brands with restrictive inner limits, including Asda Money, Insure Your Paws, British Pet Insurance, Cover My, Healthy Pets, Many Pets, Muddy Paws, Petgevity, Pets in a Pickle, The Range, Wilko.com and Purely Pets.

The group alleged that details of these limits are often buried in policy documents or omitted entirely from insurers’ websites, meaning consumers may only discover the restrictions when making a claim.

The issue has been reflected in the rising number of complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Pet insurance complaints increased from 1,655 in 2023/24 – with 33% upheld – to 2,286 in 2024/25, with 42% upheld.

Daley added: “There’s a storm brewing in the pet insurance market, which has grown rapidly since the pandemic. Many customers are still unaware of the shortcomings in their policies. Pets are part of the family and people buy insurance for peace of mind – but many of these products won’t meet their needs.”

Fairer Finance has called for the FCA to review transparency and fairness in the pet insurance market, ensuring customers are adequately informed about the limits of their cover.